Purdue To Create Life-Supporting Ecosystem In Space

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration announced that Purdue University will head a center to develop “advanced life support” technologies for sustaining human colonies on Mars and elsewhere in space. Purdue received a $10 million, five-year grant to lead the NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training for Advanced Life Support. The center’s director, Cary Mitchell, said Purdue will help design a self-sustaining environment for future space colonies. Residents will grow their own crops and live inside fully enclosed habitats in which all wastes are constantly being recycled and purified. Plants will provide foods and oxygen for humans, microbes will be used to break down wastes, and other technologies will be needed to remove impurities from the air and water.